TO ADD TO YOUR TBR LIST
Outbound Train by Renea Winchester In 1976, memories from a night near the railroad tracks sixteen years earlier haunt Barbara Parker. She wrestles with past demons every night, then wakes to the train’s five-thirty whistle. Exhausted and dreading the day, she keeps her hands busy working in Bryson City’s textile plant, known as the “blue jean plant,” all the while worrying about her teenage daughter, Carole Anne. The whistle of the train, the hum of those machines, and the struggle to survive drives Barbara. When an unexpected layoff creates a financial emergency, the desperate pressure of poverty is overwhelming. “Renea Winchester’s Outbound Train is a testament to the strength of Southern women and the depthless bond between mothers and daughters. The story she weaves creates a picture of Bryson City that is both hauntingly realistic and a mirror for every poor town in Appalachia that has lost industry. One need only replace the textile mill of Bryson City with the coal mines or lumber camps lost in other communities to see this story in those communities too. Winchester’s Outbound Train celebrates what we hold onto in the toughest times and what we overcome. It is a MUST READ!” Five Star Reader Review
NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE NO. 16
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